Carlos Sainz Sr drops out of contention for FIA presidency

• Election will take place on 12th December in Uzbekistan
• Sainz Sr says ‘the present circumstances are not ideal’ to run for president
• He also does not want to compromise his Dakar Rally efforts in January 2026

Carlos Sainz Sr has announced he will not put his name forward to be the next president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

Last month, the Spanish rally legend revealed that he was “in the process of figuring out how much support I will get from the community of motorsport” to challenge incumbent president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

But in a statement published on his X account, Sainz Sr has revealed that he will not be pursuing this idea anymore.

‘This message is to publicly confirm that I have finally decided not to run for the presidency of the FIA in this year’s election,’ it read.

‘I have worked hard these past months to understand in depth the situation at the FIA and the demands and complexities that come with such an important project. After a thoughtful reflection, I have come to the conclusion that the present circumstances are not ideal to set the grounds for my candidacy.’

Sainz could be referring to the changes that the FIA has recently voted through, which included bringing forward the deadline for candidates for December’s presidential election, reducing the time for potential candidates to pull together their campaign.

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The Spaniard also acknowledged that a campaign to run for president ‘would notably compromise my preparation for the Dakar [Rally]’, something that further influenced his decision to not stand as it takes place just three weeks after the election.

Despite this, Sainz maintains that ‘the organisation needs important changes’ which he is hopeful ‘will be tackled in the upcoming years’.

But, this news means that Ben Sulayem now looks set to run unopposed to extend his time in charge of the FIA despite numerous controversies surrounding the Emirati.

He has overseen the departures of senior executives like Niels Wittich as Formula One race director and former chief executive Natalie Robyn. Then, Robert Reid resigned as deputy president for sport earlier this year and accused the organisation of a “breakdown in governance standards”.

Most recently, Ben Sulayem fired Sara Mariani as the FIA’s head of sustainability, diversity and inclusion. Previously, the Emirati had pointed to his creation of the sustainability, diversity and inclusion department to disprove sexism allegations after historic comments emerged where he claimed he does ‘not like women who think they are smarter than men’.

Despite this, Ben Sulayem retains key support throughout the motorsport world. For instance, 36 automobile clubs, mostly based in the Americas, threw their weight behind his re-election bid earlier this year.

Crucially, the FIA posted an operating profit of €4.7 million (US$5.3 million) in 2024, marking its strongest set of financial results in eight years. This was revealed just before Ben Sulayem announced his intention to run for president, generating timely support for his re-election.

The election for the next president of the FIA will take place on 12th December in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.